The Woes Of Dreams

Spring

EDITED: 04/02/2023

12 - Spring

When Pan was a little girl, her favorite season was spring. It was mainly due to the fact that spring was her Papa's favorite season. Goku could spend hours on the trails behind their home looking at the budding branches and flowers. Pan would join him any chance she got and together, they would listen to the songs of birds and watch the bees as they floated from flower to flower.

After Goku died and Trunks left, Spring lost the joy it once brought Pan. The season became nothing more than the continuation of winter. A brittle cold that eventually warmed into the boiling heat of summer. All of the seasons, not just spring, passed in a blur.

For two years, Pan's memory was dull and unclear. Days were the same, one after another. She wasn't sure what made her wake up one morning and decide she was through of doing whatever it was she was doing. Expecting others to bring her happiness would only cost her a lifetime of disappointment.

After that day, Pan slowly began to feel like her old self once again. She went on walks along the same trails she used to explore with her Papa. She fell in love with nature and the earth all over again. Bulla, who had waited patiently for Pan to get over her depression, had been so excited when Pan finally accepted to go shopping with her. It was just in time too since all of Pan's old clothes were growing too small since she had hit puberty.

Pan was happy again - well, mostly happy. There were still times when her chest ached so badly that she could do nothing to soothe it. There were still nights when she would curl up into a tight ball under her covers, afraid to sleep. She missed her Papa, and she missed Trunks.

And the nightmares never went away.

Until now.

It had been four months since a nightmare had bothered Pan. Four blissful, wonderful months. She would always be in debt to Dende, Mr. Popo, and Korrin. Every month when she picked up her new batch of medicine she always made sure to bring them home-cooked treats. She helped Mr. Popo in his garden and found out that he was a good storyteller. He told her all about how he trained the Z-Fighters and her Papa.

With no more nightmares terrorizing her, everything was nearly perfect for Pan. She loved her job as a ranger, and Trunks was home for good. Not to mention that she was dating him!

Pan stretched as she stood on the hill behind the Wildlife Center. It was almost four in the afternoon, and she had just gotten off work from her morning shift. Since the weather had been so nice the last several weeks, Pan had flown home after work. She looked up at the blue sky and watched a few clouds roll by with a smile. It would be any second now -

A sound of a quiet hum made the air buzz, and Pan laughed as she watched Nimbus zoom down towards her. A little over a month ago, Nimbus had found her while she patrolled an area of the park. She had been ecstatic to see the little cloud again, and it hummed in delight as she pet its puffy body.

"Are you ready?" Pan asked.

Nimbus buzzed with a yes.

"Alright," Pan laughed before she shot into the sky.

Nimbus was by Pan's side as she soared through the sky above the Wildlife Center. The park the rangers looked over was just outside of West City and it spanned almost one hundred miles. There were five ranger stations within the park, along with multiple offices. Pan worked at the main station near the park's center, so whenever she flew to work or home, she always had a beautiful view of the trees below.

Having raced her multiple times by now, Nimbus knew the path Pan usually took to head to her home in the Poazu Mountains. She smiled to herself and turned quickly, going West instead of East just as Nimbus turned in the other direction. The little cloud gave a surprised buzz as it halted mid-flight and zoomed toward Pan. It butted against her side as if showing her it was displeased by the trick.